Private Security agencies make a significant part of the criminal justice system. They frequently work and collaborate with other federal agencies that make up the American federal criminal justice system to solve criminal cases. Such kinds of government agencies include courts, community-based correction, law enforcement, and lastly institution-based corrections. Each of these four agencies relies on private security in one way or another to solve and prevent criminal activities. This paper will describe the roles and functions of private security and how it interrelates with the criminal justice agencies listed above.
The private security agency is private organization different from public law enforcement entity, which primarily offers security services to prevent the occurrence of crime, loss of property, and harm to specific organizations, facilities, or individuals. When people hear about private security, they frequently think of security guards at a night club or concert, or security officers guarding the malls. According to the United States Department for Justice Reports, for every ten sworn law enforcement officer, there are two private security practitioners (Button, 2016).
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The federal government often contracts private security agencies. For example, the Paragon security group is a private security agency contracted by the federal government to offer profession uniformed security services to government building and property. These security officers are highly trained to operate technical and advanced security equipment such as X-Ray screening devices, closed circuit television systems (CCTV) and magnetometers (MPS Security, n.d.). Other security officers in this company are armed and trained well to provide security escort services and protect dignitaries. A competent private security agency like this one is capable to work similarly to public law enforcement agencies. Many are the times when federal law enforcement misjudges these kinds of security agencies, and sometimes this factor hinders the partnership process.
Both law enforcement and private security shares the same objective, which is to maintain law and order, ensure public safety, identify and catch criminal and lastly prevent the occurrence of crime. Private security is a multimillion-dollar industry, advancing and becoming prominent than the law enforcement industry. Due to the increasing demand for private security services in the field of public safety, private security and federal law enforcement are forced to work together.
The American court system hires private security services frequently. Most of the functions tasked to private security agencies are non-criminal. These kinds of tasks involve prisoner transport, alarm response, jail, and court security. Assigning the functions listed above to private security raises the number of a police officer on streets to protect public, outsourcing private security service also have a direct impact to the federal government because the government manages lower the crime rate at a minimal cost. Private security officers, earn less money than law enforcement officers, although it depends on the agency they are working for and therefore contracting private security officers it would cost the government less money to provide security services. According to the United States Department of Labor, the average hourly wage for a public law enforcement officer is $ 28.04 while that one of a private security officer is $ 11.84 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Having these factors in mind, it would cost the government less to a contract private office to protect a crime scene for a day than having a public law enforcement officer. The same case applies to prison transport, alarm response, and court security.
Private security agencies play a significant role in institution-based corrections. In the country, private correction facilities have become a player in the American criminal justice system. A private correction center is a profit making prisons in which criminals are jailed by a third party contracted by the federal criminal justice system. Organizations that operate private jails enter into a contractual agreement with the government and charge a flat monthly or per deim that is they charge per prisoner or facility. All the prison officers that work in private correction officer are regarded as private security officer. Private correction facilities hold approximately 16 percent of federal convicts and 6 percent of states prisoner. The Correction Corporation of America is the fifth private correction company that provides privates correctional services in the country.
Community-based correction involves parole and probation. Parole is a period of conditional supervised release from jail. Probation is correctional supervision within the society rather than in prison. Correction-based correction aims to make sure that criminals are obeying the terms of release. Failure to comply with parole or probation condition is a crime and punishable. If an ex-convict violates parole, the probation officer issues him or her with a warning, and if the offender keeps on violating the terms of release he is summoned for a court hearing, consequences of violating probation include, payment of fine, sent back to jail cancelation of probation, and an increment of probation time (Petersilia, 2011). In community-based correction, private security agencies do not play a significant role since this program requires minimal supervision.
Private security agencies are of great importance within the federal criminal justice system. Private security officers are involved in most areas of the criminal justice system, such as assisting law enforcement to safeguard property, individuals, guarding prisons, and movement of the prisoner. The private security industry has proven to be useful in solving and preventing criminal activities across the country.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018). Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333051.htm
Button, M. (2016). Security officers and policing: powers, culture and control in the governance of private space. Routledge.
MPS Security. Uniformed Security Protection Services - MPS Security. Retrieved from https://www.security-mps.com/uniformed-security/
Petersilia, J. (2011). Community corrections: Probation, parole, and prisoner reentry. Crime and public policy, 499-531.
